Here we are, over three weeks past Election Day, and still there is a debate over who will be the next President of the United States. The frustration of this dilemma is starting to build. It has affected the Thanksgiving Day holiday, it is affecting the Christmas shopping season, the stock market is still in decline because of the uncertainty, and you can’t turn on a television set, look at a newspaper, or go into a coffee shop without hearing the latest updated newsflash.

Believe it or not, this will all pass. One way or another, within the next two weeks a new President will be declared……absolutely. This all started in the hands of Governor Bush and Vice-president Gore. Now, I’m afraid, it is in the hands of lawyers and spin-doctors, who really don’t care about anybody else but themselves. They don’t care about you, they don’t care about me. Inside their puny little minds they are contemplating how much mileage they can get out of this, and how much the advance will be for the book that they plan to write over the next year. It will be left to the common man and woman to pick up the pieces, put them back together, and unite a divided country. Young and old, rich and poor, black and white…..we all live here. It may not be perfect, and sometimes not the fairest, but I, like many, love America, and what it can become. It’s about time we cast aside the points of view of those that pit us against each other, and look inside our hearts, to what we have in common.
What we have learned from this mess is that for the next election, the winner should not be decided by the courts or somebody with a magnifying glass, looking for dimpled marks on a ballot. A uniform system would be a refreshing alternative! The question that lingers in my mind about the election is this: What has happened in America since the last election that has divided us so deeply?

Whomever the next President is, boy oh boy does he have his work cut out for him. No honeymoon administration, he will be expected to hit the ground running! I am looking to hear a statement such as, “Let’s heal America, and try as much as we can, to leave no one behind.” That would be a nice beginning…..don’t you think?

God Bless America,

Jennifer Avalon
© 2000 Jennifer Avalon